The Shepherd University men’s soccer has lost their last three straight games which have resulted in the team falling to 6-7-1 on the year. Furthermore, the losses have subsequently led to the Rams losing their regional ranking in the NSCAA/Continental Tire NCAA Division II Atlantic Poll. Shepherd now finds themselves sitting sixth out of seven teams in the Mountain East Conference men’s soccer standings with the end of the 2014 campaign drawing closer.
The Rams’ defense has continued to struggle. Statistically speaking, their defense is the worst in the Mountain East as the Rams have been scored on 33 times this season. The offense has had their troubles as well, especially recently. The team has scored only one goal over their last five matches and have only scored a total of 12 goals over the course of the season.
Shepherd dropped a 2-0 decision to Wheeling Jesuit University on Oct. 15. Wheeling Jesuit scored the first goal of the game at the 21:03 mark when Trey Tucker scored off an assist from his teammate Luke Roan. The Cardinals then added an insurance goal just minutes later when Vincent Faraji scored on assists from Sean Murphy and Aitor Iniguez De Heredia in the 29th minute. The Rams managed 11 shots in the entire game and only two of those were shots on goal. On the other hand, Wheeling Jesuit recorded 14 shots, seven of which were shots on goal.
The team returned to action on Saturday, Oct. 18 when they hosted Notre Dame College. The game remained scoreless for the first 24 minutes. Shepherd scored an own goal at the 24:18 mark and the game quickly went downhill after that. Adam Mitchell scored off an assist from Ryan Ware in the 29th minute to give Notre Dame College a 2-0 lead over the Rams. The Falcons then received goals from Jacob Earnest, George Kennett and Matt Ramser in route to a 5-0 shutout win. The Rams’ offense had four shots with only one shot on goal in the entire game. Meanwhile, Notre Dame had their way with the Rams’ defense as they recorded a total of 31 shots during the match.
The Rams travel to West Virginia Wesleyan College on Oct. 21 and they host Urbana University on Saturday, Oct. 25.